Moving On
by Scoobert0
Summary: Peter thinks Neal is finally getting over Kate's death, but is there more going on than Neal's letting on?    **ON HIATUS**
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello there. This is my first fanfic that I've actually published, so be nice. Reviews would be greatly apreciated. Let me know if I should continue. **

"Hello?"

"Neal, be ready in ten minutes, I'm coming to pick you up."

"Uh, Peter…"

Peter hung up before Neal could say anything else. The phone started to ring almost immediately.

"Peter." Came Neal's voice

"What's the problem Neal?"

"The problem is that I'm not at home and-"

"What?" Peter shouted, cutting Neal off.

"Relax, I'm still in my two-mile radius. Nothing to get worked up about. It's also 9 p.m. on a Friday night, I've had some wine, so if this is work related…"

"Damnit Neal." Peter sighed in frustration.

"So sorry I'm trying to get out and have a life again." Neal retorted in a hurt voice.

"I didn't mean it like that, Neal… So how much wine have you had?"

"I'm on my second glass." Neal said, his voice trailing off as he paid attention to something else. Peter could hear him start talking to someone else, "Hey. Yeah, I think I'm going to have to go. Oh, really? I guess that works out then. I'll call you tomorrow."

Peter heard the distinct sound of a kiss from the other side of the line, and smiled to himself.

"Peter? You still there?" Neal asked.

"Why don't you stay there Neal. We can go to the scene tomorrow, nothing super important."

"You called me on a Friday night and told me to be ready in ten minutes, seems pretty important to me. Why the change of heart?" Neal asked. Peter could tell that he was walking, "I'm on my way back to June's now."

"Well, you're obviously on a date." Peter said, in a teasing tone.

"And how did you deduce that?" Neal asked, sounding surprised.

"I'm just that good." Peter boasted.

"You're good Peter, but you're not _that_ good."

"I know what a kiss sounds like, Neal. Is she pretty?"

"Wow, you have better hearing than I give you credit for." Neal said, trying to avoid further questions from Peter.

"Answer the question Neal."

"You're not my mother, Peter, I don't need to explain my relationships with you." Neal said testily.

"I'm not asking as an FBI agent Neal, I'm asking as your friend. Besides, you know I'm going to keep asking if you don't answer anyways."

"Alright, alright. Yes, she is very pretty. In a very unique way." Neal said as he walked down the street towards June's. Peter could imagine the grin Neal had on his face as he said the words. "So what's the deal with this date chrashing case then?" Neal asked, changing the subject.

"I told you, it can wait. Call that girl back and let her know its my fault."

"Nah, she got a call for work too, that she needed to go in for."

"What in the world does she do that would warrant a Friday night call in?" Peter asked suspiciously.

"Nothing illeagal, Mom." Neal said, with a hint of sacrasm, "She's a consultant."

"What does she consult on?" Peter asked, still suspicious.

"Oh, you know, white collar crime, organized crime, the usual." Neal said noncelantly.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's an FBI CI, like me. She actually works for the Las Vegas White Collar division." Neal explained, and sencing Peter's next question, continued on, "They do video confrenses when she's out of town and they need her help."

Peter was quiet for a minute before he said anything, "So this wouldn't be a permanent thing between you two?"

"I don't know. She's actually been in New York for the most part over the last eight months, taking care of her old man. She hasn't said anything about going back anytime soon though."

"Wait, you've had this discussion with her already? How long have you been seeing this girl? She even have a name?"

Neal tried to muffle his laugh. "Leave it to you to leave the most obvious question for last Peter." He sniggered.

"Just answer the questions Caffrey." Peter growled.

"Oh, getting serious. Alright, Alright. Obviously, tonight is not the first time I've gone on a date with her. We've actually been seeing each other regularly over the last couple months. Mozzie introduced us at the hospital after he got, well you know..." Neal trailed off, not liking to think about what happened to his friend, " Anyways, so its starting to get serious between us. We've had a couple discussions on where we're headed as a couple and such things."

"Still haven't given me a name, Neal."

"Her name is Haley Jones, no relation to our Agent Jones though, so relax. I'm back at June's now, so you can come and get me whenever now."

"Alright, I'll be there in ten. And don't think we're done with this conversation, young man." Peter cautioned, sounding very fatherly, even to himself.

"Yup, sure thing. I'm going to go change quick. You still need to tell me about this case, you know."

"I'll fill you in on the ride over there. Get going, I don't want to be waiting for you." Peter said, hanging up the phone. He immediately called Diana, telling her to look up Haley Jones. As he got in his Taurus, he smiled to himself. If this girl turned out to be real, it would be the best proof the Neal was finally moving on from Kate's death. He started the car and headed over to June's.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, I'm going to keep going with this, since the support for it is waaaay higher than I expected, so thank you all! Updates might be a little slow, seeing as I only had the first chapter written, and I'm a full time student, but I'll try to get stuff up as soon as possible. : )**

**Also, in regards to Duffy1's question, a CI is a Confidential Informant. They work with law enforcement for either money, a deal, or a reduced sentence for their own crimes. So they don't necessarily have to have gone to prison, like Neal.**

Fifteen minutes later, Neal slid into the passenger seat of Peter's Taurus.

"What don't you understand about ten minutes? And what in the world are you wearing?" Peter asked as he started driving. He glanced over at Neal's clothes. He was wearing a gray long-sleeved t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. The ex-con just rolled his eyes at him.

"June was surprised I was back so early and wanted to talk quick." Neal explained.

"Ok, I get that. Now why are you wearing those clothes? I've never seen you so dressed down." Peter said in amused shock, "You're even dirty!" He added, noticing the grass stains on Neal's clothes and dirt smudged on his hands and face.

"I didn't actually get the chance to change or clean up. I ended up talking to June longer than I thought."

"What in the world were you doing that you actually got dirty?" Peter asked, extremely amused by the "rugged" appearance of his consultant.

"We were outside and Haley tends to get overly spontaneous when she's outside, more so than if we go to a club or a restaurant. I didn't want to risk ruining a nice suit rolling down hills in Central Park." Neal explained as he tried to scrub the dirt off his face looking in the vanity mirror.

"I can't even picture that." Peter chuckled.

"Picture what?" Neal asked, giving up on making himself anymore presentable without a bar of soap and a change of clothes. He looked over at Peter, who was trying not to laugh, a battle he lost.

"You rolling down a hill like a little kid!" Peter laughed, slapping the steering wheel with his palm. Neal couldn't help the smile that crept up on his face.

"Yeah, well, Haley has this thing about disrupting the social norm and living for the moment when it presents itself. A couple glasses of wine doesn't help the situation either." He explained, then added, "I don't think I've had this much clean fun since before you started investigating me."

Peter glanced over at Neal, seeing a sad little smile on his lips as he remembered those days. He looked away quickly as Neal's attention came back from the memories he was wondering in.

"So." Peter started, casually, "How'd you meet her exactly?"

"Mozzie introduced us."

"When?"

"She came to visit Mozzie when he was in the hospital while I was there one day. We met like that a couple more times before Mozzie was cleared to leave. She actually made him stay at an apartment she had. Which was surprisingly in my radius. So I obviously hung out with her and Moz quite a bit. Then one day, she asked me out for drinks. And as they say, the rest is history."

"She had him stay at her apartment? How well does she know him?"

"I don't know." Neal said. Peter glared over at him. Neal looked back at him, blue eyes stern as he repeated himself, "I honestly don't know, Peter. All they ever talked about was wine, art, books, cult classic movies, those kinds of things. So if they ever talked about anything they'd done together in the past, it wasn't when I was around."

Neal shifted his body away from Peter and turned so he was looking out the passenger window. The two men were silent for awhile.

"What do you think she does?" Peter asked.

Neal didn't turn to face him, "I told you, she's a CI for the Vegas White Collar division." Once again, they were both silent, "I don't know for sure, but I think she was an information fence of some kind. She's very good with people and can talk around and out of any kind of situation, from what I've experienced."

Peter looked over to see Neal looking at him again. He smiled and nodded, not asking anything else. Neal had told him the truth, and he appreciated that.

"So where exactly is it that we're going? Still need at least an overview for this case you know." Neal said in a cheerful tone, flashing a grin of reassurance for Peter.

"Funny you said overview, cause that's really all I've got to go off of. Hughes didn't get into specifics when he called me. Something to do with the Organized Crime Unit and an unidentified body that isn't the tenant of the apartment it was found in." Peter said, trailing off as he maneuvered through heavy traffic.

"Aaaaaand, how is this our case?" Neal asked, gripping the 'oh shit!' handle as Peter swerved around cars, "I thought Ruiz hates me and doesn't want me anywhere near his operations?"

"Like I said, Neal, I don't know any more than what I just told you. Jones should be there already and Diana will meet us there."

"Why's Jones there by himself? What's Diana doing?" Neal asked suspiciously.

"I had her stop by the office to grab some files." Peter said flatly. Neal stared at him for a couple of minutes, not saying anything. Peter started fidgeting under those bright blue eyes.

"You had her check the database for Haley, didn't you?" He asked in a serious tone.

Peter swallowed shallowly, glancing over at Neal, expecting to see him angry. Instead, Neal was struggling to to maintain a serious face, and failing as he started laughing. Peter wasn't sure why, but he started smiling himself.

"What's so funny?"

"You didn't think I would know you'd run it through the system when I told you her name."

"Again, what's so funny about that?"

Neal sniffed a little, wiping his nose, "I don't know, just is."

Peter didn't respond. Instead, he turned the car down a side street and into an apartment parking garage. He parked the car and got out. Neal followed suit, still smiling. The two didn't exchange any words as they walked into the building and got in the elevator going up to the 14th floor. Jones was standing close to the elevator doors as they opened. He didn't look happy, but smiled when he saw Neal.

"Whoa, what's up with the clothes Neal?" He asked amusedly. Neal rolled his eyes at him.

"What's the deal Jones?" Peter asked, stepping out of the elevator, Neal on his heels.

"I haven't even been allowed to view the scene. Ruiz said no one from White Collar was allowed in till you and Neal showed up." Jones explained as all three of them walked down the hall till they reached an open door with yellow tape across it. They ducked under it, coming face-to-face with a small woman. Her short blond hair was pulled back into two small pig-tails, long bangs covering her forehead. Her bright gray eyes glanced over Jones, then Peter, and landed on Neal. A huge grin lit up her face.

"Hey there gorgeous." She said, her voice high and sweet.

Peter opened his mouth to ask her who she thought she was, but before he could say anything, Neal responded.

"Well hello beautiful. Wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry if this chapter seems like it just keeps going and going. I just couldn't get to a good place to cut it off. Doesn't help that I'm a stickler for details and making sure I have everything covered. Also, if anyone wants to Beta read these for me, that would be awesome. My spell check is being moody and not working. And let's face it, I can't spell for the life of me. Enjoy!**

"Alright Jones, they're here. Now tell me what's going on here." Agent Ruiz said from the opposite side of the room, not looking very happy. There was a body on the ground surrounded by crime scene techs. Other than that, nothing in the apartment looked out of place.

"You know," Haley started, turning around to face the Organized Crime agent, "I really have no idea why I'm listed as an organized crime consultant." She turned back towards the white collars, "I've never had anything to do with it. Sure, I have a few friends who are mixed up in it, but I personally never do business directly with them."

She turned and… danced away (that was the only thing Peter could think of to describe the way she moved) till she was standing on her tip-toes in front of Ruiz. The agent actually leaned back from her, to the surprise of the the other agents.

Peter leaned over and spoke lowly to Neal, "_That_ is _your_ Haley?" He asked, shocked. Neal grinned at him.

"Oh yeah. I told you she's good with people."

"Boss." A female voice said from behind them. They turned to see Diana standing there. She gave Peter a questioning look, and he shook his head. _Later_ he mouthed to her and she nodded. The file that was in her hand disappeared into the briefcase she was carrying. Neal and the agents moved further into the apartment.

"Robbi."

Peter turned towards Haley, who was still in a staring contest of sorts with Ruiz.

"Excuse me?" He asked, at the same time as Ruiz. Haley went flat on her feet, spinning towards Peter, her gray eyes flashing with amusement.

"Robbi Robertson." She said, as though that was all the explanation needed. And for Neal and Ruiz, it was. They were frozen, staring at her after she said the name.

"Who's Robbi Robertson?" Dinana asked.

"He is, or was, a suspected gun-for-hire with certain crime families all over the country." Ruiz said, running his hand over his face as he pulled out his cell and started dialing.

"World, actually." Haley said. Ruiz glared at her, "What? You said 'all over the country', which is incorrect. He's done jobs all over the world." Ruiz shook his head at her and hit the send button on his phone as he walked into a different room.

"You know him?" Neal asked her quietly.

"Yeah, I've worked a couple undercovers for him. Building up favors, you never know when you're going to need them… Oh wait, you're not talking about Jackass, are you?"

Neal couldn't help but smile, "Jackass?"

"I told you, I have two categories for Feds. Jackasses and Assholes. Ruiz hasn't really bugged me lately, so he's been upgraded to Jackass status."

"So what does that make me?" Peter asked, walking over by the two. Haley smiled innocently at him.

"Well, from what Neal's said, which has only been nice things, I've come to the conclusion that you're a Jackass. You should be glad, I usually call all Feds Assholes for the first couple months I know them."

"Did you know Robertson?" He asked, in agent mode.

"What? Oh, yeah. Well no, not personally at least. Only by rumor and reputation. He killed a friend of mine once." She explained quickly as she glanced around the apartment, "Anyone got a phone I could use?" She asked loudly. No one moved or said anything, "Fine." She walked into a different room and came back with a cell. Neal reached out and griped her upper arm gently as she walked by him.

"Haley, what's going on?" He asked her.

"This is Gary's apartment. I set it up for him. No one other than him, myself, the Old Man, and whoever Gary decided to tell, and let's face it, the only person he'd tell is Mozzie, should know he's here. So that obviously means someone went through a _lot_ of trouble to find him and paid big bucks to have Robbi come take him out."

Neal released her arm and she pressed a button on the phone before raising it to her ear.

"Why don't you call Mozzie and tell him to start looking for anyone who has a grudge with him and can finance a hit." Neal obliged and dialed the number.

"Hello Neal." Came the short man's voice over the phone, "Where are you two? I thought you guys were going to have an early night and come over to do a wine tasting with us?"

"Yeah, we had a change of plans. Got called to a crime scene."

"Both of you? Are the Vegas guys there?" Mozzie asked surprised.

"No, she apparently does work for the Organized Crime Unit too."

"Huh. She hates organized crime. Far too much violence for her taste."

"I think we all agree on that. Listen, Moz, Robbi Robertson was found dead in Gary's apartment. Haley wants you to see who would have a big enough grudge to go after him and the resources to hire Robbi."

There was a gasp on the other side of the phone and crackling as someone else grabbed it.

"ROBBI WAS IN MY APARTMENT?" A squeaky voice yelled. Neal had to move the phone away from his ear quickly before replacing it, "Give the phone to Haley, Caffrey."

Neal looked around for Haley, seeing she was still on the phone, "Hey Hales, Gary wants to talk to you."

"Tell him I've got a more important call." She said annoyed.

Neal relayed her words through the phone, only to have Gary yell at him again, "He calls Bull."

Haley smiled and rolled her eyes, "Fine, put him on speaker." Neal did so and Gary's squeaky voice filled the apartment.

"HALEY ELIZABETH JONES! Why is Robbi Robertson dead in my apartment?"

All the Feds in the apartment were looking at Neal and Haley.

"The hell are you doing Jones?" Ruiz growled, he had come back into the room and was having a discussion with Peter.

"Networking." Was the reply she gave him, then she addressed the phone, "Hey Gary, you do realize that's not my middle name anymore, right? I changed it."

"And what did you change it to _this_ time?"

" 'Badass Exourdinaire.' "

Everyone except Ruiz and peter, who were still discussing something, snorted out a laugh when she said that. Peter nodded to Ruiz and walked over by Neal and Haley.

"Neal, Ms. Jones; we need to discuss something with the both of you." Peter said. The two looked at him expectantly, "We're giving you two a protection detail."

"What for Peter?" Neal asked.

"Ruiz was just informed there's a hit out on both of you as well as Gary."

Neal's face visibly paled, "You know who put it out?" His thoughts flashing to Keller or Wilkes.

"Not yet. Ruiz's people are working on it. Who are you on the phone with?"

"Gary, he's with Mozzie."

"Greetings suit," Came Gary's squeaky voice from the phone, it was still on speaker, "The boy is very fond of you and speaks of you often, much to my personal disgust."

"Shut-up Gary." Haley called from where she was standing, phone still pressed against her ear.

"Any ideas about this hit?" Mozzie's voice now came from the phone.

"It's not a hit." Haley said absently as she repeatedly spun in a circle, "its recruitment."

"What do you-"Peter started to ask her, but she cut him off, holding a finger up as she started talking on the phone.

"Hey, it's me. I need you to come to Blake Apartments on the Westside. Wait for me outside. The game just got serious." She was quiet for a moment, then she laughed, "Haha! That's funny. You think I'm going to pay you? You owe me waaaaaay to many favors. Just get here as fast as possible and call me when you do." She hung up and grinned at everyone.

"Ms. Jones." Peter started.

"Just Haley. I'm not much for formalities."

"Riiight. Well then, Haley, I want you to stay close to Neal at all times." Haley threw her arms around Neal, clinging to him.

"This close enough? Or should we strip and be skin-on-skin? Maybe you want to make it a little kinky and handcuff us together?" She asked teasingly.

"Uh, no, you'll be fine just staying at his place with him. If that's ok with you and June." He looked at Neal, who was playfully trying pry Haley off him. He nodded and Peter continued, "We're going to give you guys a protection detail.-"

"Not necessary." Haley said, releasing Neal.

"Excuse me?"

"I've got someone coming whose way better than the FBI at the whole 'protection' deal. No offense to your people, but I've had terrible luck with the FBI when it comes to that." She shrugged.

"What did you mean when you said this isn't a hit, its recruitment?" Diana asked sternly. Peter was thankful, once again, that he brought the young agent back onto his team.

"Exactly what I said. What looks like a hit list to you, looks like a recruitment roster for a very dangerous heist to me and anyone who's ever worked with the guy who's organizing it."

"What's the heist?" Neal asked absently.

"No clue. That's always a last minute thing for this asshole. All I know is the list of players he wants for his game." Haley explained, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Haley," Neal said concerned. He'd never seen her like this before, "Who's organizing the heist?"

"I shall explain all I know on this subject later. For now, let us get out of here and somewhere else. I don't know about y'all, but I'm not a fan of hanging around dead bodies." She smiled sweetly and inclined her head towards the body. Peter was about to agree when his phone started ringing.

"Burke." He answered. He walked away as he listened to whoever was on the other side of the line.

" 'Y'all'?" Neal teased, "I didn't realize you were from Texas."

"Oh my gods, I love Six Flags: San Antonio!" She squeaked. Neal just shook his head, smiling.

"So you too seem to know each other." Diana said casually.

"I guess we never did get around to introductions, did we? I'm Haley Jones. Neal's my boyfriend." She held her hand out to Diana who shook it automatically, shocked by the other woman's words.

"I'm Diana, and this is Agent Jones." She said recovering, introducing herself and the other agent. One of Haley's eyebrows shot up in amusement.

"Guess I'm going to have to change my name, huh?" She said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry, did you just say you're Neal's girlfriend?" Jones asked, jaw still hanging. Both Haley and Neal nodded. Peter came back just then.

"Alright, we're getting out of here. Hughes wants us back at the office. Haley, you can ride in my car."

"Hold on then, I need to make a call. I'm not leaving my bike here." Haley stated, getting her phone out.

"No need, we can just put it in the trunk of my car."

"Uh, no we can't."

Peter sighed heavily, "Why not?"

"Cause it's a suped-up Kawasaki Ninja." She said with pride. The number she was calling picked up then, "Hey, I'm going to the bureau. You can follow on my bike. I'm just going to need to grab my bag. Oh would you? Thanks a lot man." She hung up, smiling, "Ok, we can go now."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello once more. : ) Just a short chapter this round. I had it brought to my attention that I didn't really explain who Gary is, but I promise I'll get to that in the next chapter. Hope you all like it so far, reviews are defiantly appreciated and make me happy.**

The drive to the bureau was an… interesting one. Starting with an old beaten up messenger bag sitting on the top on the Taurus as Peter, Neal, and Haley approached it. Haley had run up and grabbed it, pulling out a phone and turning it on. Slinging the strap across her chest, she slid into the backseat while going over the messages. A minute after Peter turned onto the main streets, chaos began.

The phone seemed to go off every few seconds, a different musical ringtone each time, followed by a quick text or conversation, and not all of those were in english. Peter was starting to understand why Neal thought she was in the information business for criminals. He was also starting to get really annoyed with all the noise. Neal had decided to sit next to Haley, leaving Peter up front by himself with no on to talk too, just listening to Haley's damn phone.

Suddenly there was an exasperated sigh of frustration from the back. He looked up at the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of Haley glaring evilly at her phone, as if daring it to ring again. He chuckled softly as he stopped the car at a red light. Neal leaned forward in his seat.

"What's so funny?" He asked. Peter pointed over to Haley who was still glaring at the phone. Neal smiled and laughed once himself, "If I'd realized she'd be on the phone this much, I would have sat up by you."

"What are you going to do, she _is_ a woman…" Peter said jokingly.

"Heard that." Haley grumbled. The phone started singing again and she gave one of those half-hearted screams, "That is it!" She bolted from the car (pulling the phone apart as she went), chucked it into a trash can and ran back to the car, shutting the door and clicking her seatbelt back on as the light turned green.

"Nice timing." Neal commented, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm just that awesome." She said with a smile, leaning into him, "Sorry about the phone thing. Word spreads fast."

"About what?" Peter asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at her.

"About Robbi being dead in Gary's apartment and my being there. I swear, New York's underside is worse about gossip than a suburban housewife."

"What were Agent Ruiz and you doing there anyways? I'm going to assume he's your handler." Peter continued his line of questioning.

"First of all, you shouldn't assume. It makes an ass out of you and me." She said humorously, "And Jackass only wishes he was my handler. No, my assigned handler is in Vegas."

"I'll be sure that I don't assume anything around you again then. But that doesn't answer the question of what you two were doing there."

"Well, I kinda have a… lookout, I suppose, in the building. Gary's kinda like an uncle to me, and I like to know if anything suspicious is going on in his building, cause he's not always the most observant person. Anywho, said lookout informed me that someone, or a couple someones as the situation indicates, broke into Gary's apt and then there were gun shots. So I called Ruiz for one of the favors he owes me to get in. Then I played him a little more to get you guys there. He still owes me that favor now too, cause it turned out to be linked to organized crime after all."

"Why'd you want us there?" Neal asked before Peter could.

"I'm more comfortable around White Collar guys. I like the way you people think. You seem to be the only guys in the FBI who at least know how to look for outside angles and such on a regular basis." She said with a shrug.

The rest of the car ride was filled with idle chit-chat, with Peter trying to get Haley to talk about what she actually did for a living and her expertly avoiding or redirecting the questions, to Neal's amusement. They finally arrived at the bureau and walked into the lobby.

"Hey, uh, where are the stairs?" Haley asked, eyeing the elevators nervously. Peter gave her an odd look, glancing at Neal to see if he understood what was wrong, but the younger man was looking at Haley.

"You do realize the White Collar Unit is on the 21st floor, right?" He asked. She nodded. Neal smiled suddenly and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the stairs.

"See you in ten or so minutes Peter." Neal called over his shoulder as he pulled Haley into the stairwell. After running up two floors, still holding onto Haley's hand, Neal stopped and spun her around to embrace her. He bent his head down and kissed her lightly on the lips. She kissed him back, then pulled away a few inches, smiling.

"Well played, sir. I doubt your suit even suspects that you knew about the heist situation before tonight." She pecked him on the lips.

"You know I used to be one of the best cons in the world, right?" He teased as he nibbled on her earlobe, making her giggle, "We're going to finally tell the FBI about this though, right?" He asked.

"Most defiantly, we've done all we can on our own. Time to bring in the heavy hand of the law."

He started to nuzzle her neck, her body shuddering in response before she pushed him back.

"Easy there studly, as kinky as this could turn out to be, we both know that ten minutes isn't quite long enough to make it worthwhile." She put her finger on his lips and winked, "Now, I'll race you the rest of the way and the winner gets to dictate out next outing."

"Including wardrobe?" Neal asked slyly, moving his eyebrows up and down.

"Including wardrobe." She confirmed with a sly grin.

"Alright then, you're on."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: new chapter time! I wrote this chapter soooo many times before a spark of midnight inspiration led to this version. Not that it did any good for my 7:30 class this morning. But hey, you get a new chapter out of it, so who cares, right? :P Hope you like it, and enjoy. **

When Peter entered the White Collar Unit, he saw that Jones and Diana were already there waiting for him.

"Where's Neal and his girlfriend?" Jones asked amusedly.

"They took the stairs, she's claustrophobic or something. Diana, let me take a look at that file I asked for earlier." The Junior Agent grabbed the folder from her briefcase and handed it to him. He skimmed over it, his eyes getting wider as he flipped through the pages. Closing the file, he addressed his agents.

"Diana, you've read through this, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I want you to call the Vegas Division and get this confirmed. I don't care what time it is there, I want a full explanation tonight. Jones, when Neal and Ms. Jones get up here, I want you to keep an eye on her. Neal and I need to have a little chat." With that he went up to his office to review the file again, before Neal and Haley showed up.

Ten minutes later, the persons in question entered the unit, winded and giggling.

"I win!" Haley sang, as she skipped through the glass doors.

"Only because I let you. You know, the whole 'ladies first' thing." Neal panted as he leaned against his desk.

"Such a gentleman." She teased, pinching his cheek.

"Hey Neal, Peter wanted to talk to you about something in his office." Jones said, walking over. Neal looked up at his partner's office and saw him sitting behind his desk, looking at something intently. He turned to Haley and put a finger on the tip of her nose,

"I'll be right back, play nice."

She snapped at his finger as he pulled it away, a wicked grin on her face, "I'll try, but no promises."

Smiling, he turned and made his way up to Peter's office. He knocked on the door frame. Peter glanced up at him before looking back at the papers on his desk.

"Shut the door and take a seat."  
"That doesn't sound good." Neal mumbled as he did what he was told. The two men were silent for a minute before Peter looked at Neal.

"You've got a thing for bad girls, don't you?" Peter asked irritably.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neal countered with a hurt look.

"Do you have any idea who she is?" Peter pointed to Haley through the glass. Neal turned in the chair to look. She was laughing at something Jones had said.

"I already told you what I thought she does." Neal said defensively as he turned back to Peter, "What are you trying to get at Peter? It's after 11:30 p.m., and I learned tonight that someone wants to kill me; I'm not really in the mood for guessing games right now."

Instead of saying anything, Peter tossed Haley's file to Neal. The younger man flashed a look of annoyance at him before starting to read. To Peter's disbelief, a look of shock passed over Neal's face, his jaw dropping slightly. He looked up at Peter from the file.

"No way." He said in disbelief.

"Are you saying you had no idea about that? Now you know how I feel when you pull that crap on me." Peter lectured, but before he could continue, Neal interrupted him.

"No, I mean, there's no way Haley is _the_ Zee Mann; world-class art thief and con artist." Pure awe was evident in his voice.

"And why not?"

"She told me, just last month, that she was a fan of my… alleged work. And I mean let's face it, I'm good, but Zee Mann is a living legend, a God amongst thieves. Able to get access to impossible places and leave nothing behind except a calling card. There's no way she'd be a fan of a lesser thief's work."

"Well, the fact of the matter is," Peter pointed at something in the file, "She was investigated by that agent for two years, under the reasonable suspicion that she is Zee Mann. But that investigation was locked down and buried after she made a deal with the FBI to become a CI. All the evidence and surveillance gathered against her just disappeared overnight, telling me she's got something to hide and has some pretty powerful friends."

"Or it could just be the fact that she told them if they left her alone, she'd help them get David Fletcher and his gang." Neal said as he flipped through the pages of the file. Peter gave him a blank look, so Neal continued, "You know, those guys who'd take hostages when they'd rob a place and send them out the front dressed in their clothes and weapons while they snuck out a different way."

"I know who David Fletcher is. He pulled that gig in New York once." Peter grumbled, "But she's the CI that helped bring him down?"

"Yeah, says so right here." Neal flipped to a page and showed it to Peter. He was about to say something when there was a harsh knock at the door, which swung open to reveal Hughes.

"Burke, a team from Vegas is flying in. They'll be here in the morning around seven. I want you to pick them up, so go home and get some rest. Caffrey's protection detail is at June's already. Where's Ms. Jones?"

"She's down in the bullpen, talking with Jones. Sir, she's already got something set up with a private contractor."

"Yeah, her handler said she probably would. I'm having a detail assigned to her anyways."

"Uh, sir?" Neal hazard, raising his hand slightly.

"What is it Caffrey?" Hughes snapped, he looked down at Neal for the first time, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Long story. But Haley's actually going to stay at June's with me tonight, so we probably only need one detail, right?"

"Good idea having her stay with you. We'll just have one detail monitoring outside and one inside if it's all right with June. Now both of you, get out of here." With that, Hughes went into his own office to get his things.

Diana walked into Peter's office after Hughes left, "Sir, everything checks out. There's even-"

"A team coming in. They'll be here in the morning, yeah, I know. Hughes wants me to pick them up." Peter sighed, running his hand over his face. He glanced at the clock, which told him it was now five after twelve. _Oh man, I hope El didn't stay up waiting for me_, he thought to himself. "Well, I guess we should get going then. Diana, can you be in around eight tomorrow morning?"

"No problem boss."

Peter led the way down the stairs into the bullpen, with Neal and Diana following. Jones and Haley turned when they got close.

"Jones, I'm going to need you to pick up Neal and Haley in the morning and bring them here around nine. I've got an errand to run for Hughes first thing."

"Uh, sure. Not a problem boss." He said with a nod.

"You two ready to go?" Peter asked Neal and Haley.

"Oh yes." Haley yawned, covering her mouth with a hand. Then she froze, "Hey, wait a tick! Tomorrow, or today actually, is Saturday. Since when is Saturday a work day? Even for the FBI."

"I'm going to have to agree with her Peter." Neal piped in.

"_You_ don't have a choice." Peter pointed at Neal, then Haley, "And I would hope you'd want to figure out who put a hit out on you and take them out as soon as possible."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that…" She trailed off into another yawn. Peter was about to explode at the comment when Neal gave him a look saying _it's not worth it_. Peter heeded his consultant. Instead, he stalked off towards the elevators.

"You've got fifteen minutes to be in the car; otherwise you're taking a cab home." The agent called back to them as the elevator doors opened and he got in.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Oh boy, it is amazing how 10:30pm turns into 12:30am, in what my internal clock says is 20mins. This chapter doesn't quiet have the flow I wanted it to, but I then again, I'm not good at transitions, and that's basically what this is. I am however, good at run-on sentences, as that last one just proved. Please review, they make me happy. : ) Enjoy!**

The drive to June's was uneventful and a great deal quieter than the drive to the bureau earlier. When they got there, Peter parked the car behind the outside protection detail's car. After he chatted with them for a minute, he walked Neal and Haley towards the house. He noticed a really nice motorcycle parked close to the corner.

"Wow, that's a _really_ nice bike." Peter mused out loud.

"Thanks! I've actually wrecked that thing three different times. I just keep having it rebuilt and repainted every time." Haley said casually.

"How in the world did you wreck that bike three times and not lose your license?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Racing."

"Street racing?"

"Oh no, track racing. Not professionally of course, just for fun. A bunch of people I've known since I was a kid rent a track every couple months and have private races. The bike is totally street legal, if you were wondering, which you were."

"Wait, you race motorcycles _and_ do parkour?" Neal asked, shocked, "I'm just learning all sorts of new things about you tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?" One of Haley's eyebrows was cocked upwards, "Oooooooooooh, you saw my FBI file didn't you? We'll talk about that later." She flashed a smile and winked at him.

"What is parkour?" Peter asked, unaware of the second part of exchange, as he tried to place the word.

"It's also known as free running." Haley explained, and when Peter didn't respond, she elaborated, "Where you just keep running, climbing, and jumping no matter what's in your way."

"They climb up walls and jump from building-to-building." Neal added, "You know, urban ninja stuff. YouTube it sometime, it's amazing what these people can do."

"That's where I heard that word before. One of El's clients sent that to her and she showed me." Peter recalled. He looked at Haley in disbelief as they walked up to June's front door, "I can't imagine you doing that, you're kinda small."

Haley just stuck her tongue out at him as Neal opened the door and paused in the doorway. Peter almost walked into him.

"Hey! What are you doing Neal?" Peter asked irritably.

"Oh Neal!" June's motherly voice came from the sitting room as she got up and rushed over to hug him, "Frank, Mozzie, and Gary told me what happened. I'm so glad the FBI found out before anything bad happened to you. You too, Haley dear." She released Neal and embraced Haley too.

"The Old Man still here?" Haley asked, pulling away from the older woman.

"What do you think, brat?" A gruff voice came from the sitting room. June led Neal, Peter, and Haley over. Mozzie and another short man were sitting in chairs, while June rejoined an elderly man on the sofa.

"Shut-up, Old Fart. Don't make me drug your scotch." Haley threatened, "You know I'll do it."

"I think some introductions are in order." Peter said, trying to be pleasant and stop the bickering.

"I know of you, Agent Burke. The man who caught the man who stole my devil child's heart." The old man paused as he swatted away a paper ball Haley threw at him, "Where are your manners, child? I am Franklin Donovan. Haley is my adopted daughter, and a natural hell raiser. We live down the street from my dear Lady June here." He finished saying, picking up June's hand and kissing it. Haley rolled her eyes him while she walked over to the man sitting in the chair next to Mozzie,

"This is Gary. Say hello Gary!"

The man was only slightly taller than Mozzie, and had short sand colored hair. He grumbled something that caused him and Haley to get into a brief and quiet argument.

"Now kids…" Neal mocked them with a smile. Gary started raising his hand to flash a rude gesture at him when Haley smacked him in the back of the head.

"Hey! I could charge you with assault you know!" He squeaked angrily.

"But you won't."

"No, I won't. And now that I know you are safe from the FBI once more, I should be getting home." He stood to leave.

"Um, forgetting about something Gary?" Neal asked.

"And what would that be, turn-coat?" He grunted as Haley kicked him lightly in the calf.

"Your apartment is a crime scene right now, remember? Robbi, shot dead, in the middle of your antique Persian rug." She explained amusedly.

"Oh, right. Hey Frankie, you mind?"

"Not at all, my boy. Let's get going, I've got a doctor appointment at ten." Frank rambled, getting to his feet slowly. June escorted the two men out and declared she was going to bed herself.

"What are you doing tonight Moz?" Neal asked his friend.

"I'll crash on your couch." Mozzie said, then headed up the stairs to Neal's rooms.

Peter sat down on the recently vacated sofa. Neal sat down next to him, and Haley lay out on the floor.

"So where's your body guard?" He asked Haley.

"Oh, he's around. How else would my bike had made it here? He likes to keep his distance until an imminent threat presents itself. Trust me; he's damn good at this. He's save my skin on multiple occasions in varying situations."

The couple stayed downstairs with Peter till the second FBI detail showed up. After they finally got him to leave, they made their way upstairs. When they reached Neal's door, he grabbed Haley's hand as she reached for the door knob.

"Ok, I really got to know. Is what's in your file true? Are you Zee Mann?" He asked her quietly. She looked into his beautiful blue eyes and smiled.

"You can't tell the FBI, or any form of law enforcement for that matter. It's our little secret. Except the Old Man knows. And Gary. And Mozzie. And a couple others. But that's beside the point." She leaned in closer to his ear before whispering, "And what I said about being a fan of yours is still true."

Neal's ear-to-ear fell as he opened the door to his rooms, revealing Mozzie arranging files across the dining room table.

"You guys really want to do this now?" Neal whined, looking longingly at his bed.

"You know what they say Gorgeous, 'sleep when you're dead'. Which if we don't do this now, will be sooner rather than later." Haley ruffled Neal's hair and walked over to the table, taking out several files from her messenger bag.

"So what's our plan of action here?" Mozzie asked as he flipped through the new files.

"I say we figure out how much we actually tell the FBI, and then go to bed." Neal proposed, joining the other two by the table.

"I second the motion!" Haley said with an authoritative voice as she put her laptop on the table.

"Well then, let's get to work; we have a busy, sleep deprived day ahead of us."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry for not updating recently, all my instructors conspired against me and decided that I had to have 3 presentations due in the same week plus a rough draft for a 10-12 page research paper. AND THEN I had writer's block for this chapter, so I decided to try writing something else, which then enabled me to get back into the swing of this story. And after that, my Microsoft word decided it didn't want to work, so I couldn't transfer from notebook to computer. Alright, I am done babbling now, enjoy and review please! : )**

The next morning, when Jones went to go pick up Neal and Haley, June invited him inside for some coffee.

"They got a bit of a late start this morning." She explained as she poured the heavenly smelling brew into a cup for the agent, "When I looked in to see how they were doing, Neal was asleep on the floor and Haley was passed out on the table!" She laughed. They exchanged pleasantries for some time before June excused herself and left.

Jones was savoring his second cup of coffee, when two pairs of feet came hurriedly down the stairs.

"Oh man, Peter's going to love this." He said sarcastically when he saw the two consultants come around the corner.

Peter sat in his office, steaming at how the morning had gone so far. He'd gotten home around 1:45am and finally crawled into bed around two, after taking a hot shower. He was sound asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. What seemed like minutes later, but the clock indicated was five hours later, Peter's alarm went off and he slid out of bed. Dressing quickly, he successfully got out of the house without waking El. Somehow, he managed to get to the airport a little after eight. After fifteen minutes, he finally found the hanger where the Vegas team was supposed to meet him.

There he was informed that the Vegas team had gotten in earlier than expected and gone to follow up on a lead that had been called into them. Grumbling about what kind of lead you're going to follow up on at 6am on a Saturday, Peter called Hughes to inform him about the situation. The older agent told him to just go to the office, after Peter's explanation for the early call, and that he'd get a hold of the Vegas team and direct them there.

When Peter arrived at the office, Hughes called him and informed him the Vegas team would be in just after nine.

A little before nine, Diana showed up carrying several files up to Peter's office.

"What are these?" He asked after she set them on his desk and picking up the first one.

"Not sure. Ruiz handed them off to me on my way up. Where's the Vegas team? I thought you were picking them up?"

"They apparently have a worse attention span than Neal."

Diana raised an eyebrow in question.

"They got in around 5:30 this morning and went off to follow up on a lead they had. For what, I don't know, but it sounds kind of suspicious to me."

"Yeah, I agree with you on that. Hey, I'm going to get some coffee, want some?" Peter nodded and she turned to leave. Then she froze in the doorway, her hand flying to cover her mouth as she started giggling.

Confused, Peter got up and walked over to where she stood. Looking over her shoulder, he automatically rolled his eyes at what he saw.

Jones, Neal and Haley had come in. Neal was in one of his fancy suits as usual, his fedora on his head. Next to him, Haley was wearing a variation of one of Neal's other styles. She had on a dress shirt, vest and tie with dress pants.

"You've got to be kidding me." Peter groaned in disbelief as they came up by his office.

"Well what else did you expect? I only had a pair of dress pants at Neal's" Haley grumbled. The agents looked at her awkwardly, where was the perky, hyper-active girl from last night?

"I was more concerned with the fact that you're dressed like him." Peter explained, nodding his head towards Neal. Haley responded by crossing her arms across her chest and sticking her tongue out at the agent.

"She hasn't had any caffeine yet." Neal stage-whispered to Peter and Diana, "I'm planning on getting her one of those shirts that say 'Instant human, just add coffee'."

"Well, these are Neal's clothes." She indicated to the shirt and vest, "Seriously though, did you expect me to wear the clothes I had on last night?"

"I like the footwear you've matched your outfit with." Neal teased, nudging her foot with his own.

"If you think that's bad, you should know that she wears shorts under her dresses!" Someone called from the bullpen. Everyone turned and saw three men in suits standing there.

"Shut up Kreegan!" Haley and one of the men who had just come, yelled at the shortest member of the group.

"Nobody likes you and you were adopted." Haley added tersely.

"Can it, Zee. Don't make me arrest you."

"A likely story, you and what army?"

"Both of you, shut it." The man who had yelled at Kreegan before threatend.

"What are you doing in New York anyways?" Haley addressed the man, "You hate New York."

"So do you, Zee, and yet here you are. For what, eight months now, for the most part?"

"It's not the city I hate; it's the majority of the people here. Speaking of people, how's your mom? Stop to see her yet?"

"What do you care? You hate my mom."

"Pft, your mom is awesome. It's _you_ I hate."

The New York agents were shocked by the exchange between Neal's girlfriend and the Vegas agent. Neal was trying not to smile through the whole thing, but failed as Haley finished.

"What are you smiling at Caffrey? Last I heard, you were on a leash, pretty boy."

"You're just mad that you weren't the one to put it on me, agent Ferins." He flashed his signature grin at him.

"Oh snap!" Haley exclaimed amusedly, raising her hand for a high-five, which Neal obliged.

The Vegas agents started cracking up suddenly. Peter and his team exchanged glances, confused by the fact that these agents seemed to know Neal and Haley. Before they could ask any questions, Hughes came storming into the office.

"Glad you found the time to join us, agent Ferins. Everyone, conference room, now!" The old man growled, climbing the stairs and going straight into the mentioned room. The rest followed quickly, not wanting to make the man anymore upset than he already was.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Oh my, I am sooooooooooo so so soooo so sorry! Please don't hate me. I kinda fell off the map with this story. I could most certainly go into a rant of all the things that happened and such, but you're obviously here to read the story, so: Onward! **

**Also, let me know if the story flow is still going smoothly. It felt a little awkward writing this chapter, since I haven't written this storyline for a while. I'll leave you to it then. : )**

"_Glad you found the time to join us, agent Ferins. Everyone, conference room, now!" The old man growled, climbing the stairs and going straight into the mentioned room. The rest followed quickly, not wanting to make the man anymore upset than he already was._

Quickly and quietly, both FBI teams situated themselves on opposite sides of the conference table with Neal and Haley on the New York team's side. The Vegas agent, who had been identified as Kreegan, glared at Haley and mouthed 'traitor' at her which she acknowledged by sticking her tongue out at him before grabbing Neal's hand. He smiled at her and squeezed it. Before Kreegan could say or do anything in retaliation, Hughes began to address everyone.

"First of all, I'd just like to say I am not, in the slightest bit, impressed by your team's behavior, agent Ferins." The Agent in Charge began, "And I don't care how you might do things in Vegas, but around here we typically observe common curtsey. So while you and your team are here you will respect me and my agents, as well as standard FBI operating procedure. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir." Was the reply.

"Now that that's out of the way, everyone, this is Special Agents Dane Ferins," Hughes officially introduced the lead Vegas agent who nodded in acknowledgement, "George Kreegan," the shortest Vegas agent preformed a mock salute, "And Theodore Ramirez." The bulky Hispanic gave a little wave.

"This is my Senior Agent, Peter Burke and his team; Agents Diana Barrigan and Clinton Jones, and our consultant: Neal Caffrey." Neal winked at the agents, who bristled slightly. "And I believe you already know Ms. Jones down there."

"Unfortunately." Ramirez and Kreegan sighed together, earning a glare from their boss.

"All your fault." Haley quipped with a grin.

"Since when?" Kreegan asked.

"Since Dane decided it was a good idea to start digging into my past. I'd very much rather that stay buried, thank you much."

Hughes cleared his throat loudly, and everyone focused on him, but not before Neal and Haley exchanged a quick glance and wink.

"Now, how many of you are familiar with Edmund Spockerelli?"

Haley's hand shot into the air while everyone else nodded solemnly.

"That's the guy who organized several high stake heists and ended up killing off everyone involved, including some innocent bystanders, right?" Jones asked.

"Yes. We received an anonymous tip this morning that Spockerelli is planning a new heist in New York, and is resorting to kidnapping and extortion to get the help he wants, since no one in their right mind would willingly take part." He handed out copies of the case files. "I want all of you to go through these and try to figure out what he's going to go after and who he might try to recruit for this thing." He saw Peter open his mouth to say something, "This case takes priority. If you can link any other cases to it, be my guest. The more we can get on this guy, the better, since there isn't a whole lot to begin with. If you need me, I'll be in my office." With that he walked out of the conference room, leaving the two teams in an awkward silence.

"sooo, how've you been Dane? It's been awhile." Neal said nonchalantly, as he began to read over the case file he'd been handed.

"Can it, Caffrey."

"Agent Ferins, Neal is a valuable member of my team; I'm going to ask you to treat him with the same respect you would show one of my agents." Peter told the agent across from him. Dane's lips thinned into a tight line, but he nodded in affirmation.

"You done got told!" Haley's voice sang out from behind the file that was in front of her face. She flipped it down onto the table and got up, making her way towards the windows.

"Ask before you mark up their windows, Hales." Ramirez said to Haley in a soft voice. Peter noted that she had some sort of pencil in her hand.

"What is that?"

"It's a china marker; it can write on glass and be scrubbed off later. She uses it as part of her thinking process, you know, writing it out and stuff." Neal explained to Peter.

"How do you know that? You two planning a heist or something?" Kreegan sneered.

"She showed me the pictures of her office from the Fletcher case." Neal said shortly, a mock hurt look on his face.

"Oh that one was a bitch." Haley mumbled as she tapped the end of the pencil on the window, "You mind?" she asked, looking at Peter.

"Mind what?"

"If I write on the windows."

"Can't you just use paper?"

"This is more environmentally friendly. Trust me, I did paper for a case once and the ADA almost bit my head off after going through a quarter of it."

"I remember that, you ran out of that office so fast I thought you were the Flash for a minute." Kreegan joked.

"Here's an idea, how's about we all shut up and work quietly." Ferins suggested irritably.

"I like that idea." Peter said, looking at Neal, who looked back at him innocently before picking up the file again.

"First of all: I need a yes or no on the window thing." Annoyance was evident in Haley's voice as she spoke.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Peter waved his hand dismissively.

"Secondly, quiet? Dane, I know it's been awhile, but you should know better. I don't have my phone, which means I don't have my music, which means…"

She paused as Dane held an iPod out to her.

"Unless your taste in music has done a complete 180, no thanks."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Ferins sighed, putting the device back in his pocket. Haley started writing something on the window as she replied,

"Yeah, sure, and I love blood and violence."

The room became quiet, save the noise of flipping papers and Haley tapping out musical rhythms when she wasn't writing something on the window. Twenty minutes passed before Haley took a step back from the window, where small writing took up a four foot square area and several pictures were taped up.

"All done!" She declared. Everyone looked up curiously.

"All done with what?" Peter asked confused. He got up and made his way over to look at the window. He saw that the pictures were head shots, several of whom he recognized instantly. "Why are Neal, Mozzie, Gary and Alex up here?"

"Those are some of the people Eddie wants for his little heist. I also included some possible targets that line up with the time frame he's working on."

"So he's already approached you about this then, Zee? When was that?" Dane asked, turning back from the window.

"Two months ago. Haven't seen him face-to-face though, thank gods."

"Wait, is this what you were talking about last night at the crime scene?" Diana asked as she studied the pictures.

"Yup." Was the simple reply.

"You've known about this the whole time?" Peter asked angrily, and was about to continue a rant on how she should have said something a lot sooner, when something else occurred to him, "You know Spockerelli personally, don't you."

Haley put her hands in the air, "You got me. I dated the asshole. Albeit that was like, twelve years ago at this point. But yeah, what can I say? I was young and dumb. However, I know firsthand how violent he can get when he doesn't get his way, so I'm going to do whatever I can to stop him."

"Haley." Neal said quietly, concern evident in voice as he pulled her into a hug, "You never said anything about being in an abusive relationship. Are you sure you even want to deal with this stuff? I'd understand if you needed to get out of the city, or the country even."

She smiled softly at him. "That's probably because it wasn't an abusive relationship. It just ended… badly."

"How's that?"

"Two bullets to the chest. Luckily for her, it happened in an upscale neighborhood in Miami and a vacationing trauma doctor found her right away." Ferins explained calmly as he sat back down. Neal and the New York team stared in shock between the agent and Haley.

"Be more dramatic will you." The consultant huffed, "Anyways; my pain, your gain. At the moment at least, right? I have a totally crazy, totally something I would do, plan for ya though."

"What might that be, Zee?" Dane asked caustiously.

"You really shouldn't call me that in front of company you know, they might get the wrong idea about me."

"The plan, Zee, what is it?"

"Oh yeah. So check this out: I call Eddie and make a 'deal' with him for my… services." She said simply with a grin.


End file.
